Taking a gander along the north coast of Muck

As we left Camas na Cairidh on the north coast of Muck the Sea of the Hebrides was glassy calm and in the clear air the mountains of Rum were dappled by broken sunlight which broke through the low clouds.

 We left Eigg far in our wakes as we paddled along the north shore of Muck.

We arrived at Gallanach Bay where a significant new building is taking place. It is Gallanach Lodge and will replace the island's existing hotel at Port Mor when it opens on 27th May 2013.

A little further west and we arrived at Gallanach Farm. The four Small Isles have very different ownership arrangements. Canna is owned by the National Trust for Scotland (a charity), Rum by Scottish Natural Heritage (government funded agency), Eigg by a community buyout and Muck is currently privately owned by the MacEwen family whose predecessors have owned it since 1897.

It is very interesting to compare how these very different owners have managed the development of each island.

 As we left the bay in front of the farm, the clouds cleared but the air filled with hundreds of...

 ...geese which flew off in...

 ...the direction of Rum. This is the lovely view which will be enjoyed by visitors to the new Gallanach Lodge.

Ian and I had booked a couple of rooms in the somewhat less grand Muck Bunkhouse so we still had some way to go. As we looked for a gap between Muck and the island of Eilean nan Each the clouds opened a a front stretched away as far as the eye could see.

Unfortunately the gap shown on the ordnance survey 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 maps is no longer present at low tide. It is filled by a great bank of cobbles washed up by storms. We now set off to add a Eilean nan Each to our circumnavigation of Muck.

Mucked about by the tidal information in the Sound of Eigg.

As Ian and I set across the Sound of Eigg towards Muck the ebb tide was already running like a river in the channel between between Eigg and Eilean Chathastail. We knew (from the Admiralty West Coast Pilot) that we would be in mid channel at the peak of a big spring tide that would be travelling at 3 knots to the SE, increasing to 4 knots as we approached the west coast of Muck. As a result we set off on a high ferry angle to the north but when we stopped in mid channel, the tide was only running at 0.6 knots!

 The marbled sky was reflected in a mirror sea. Between the two the Ardnamurchan peninsula stretched away as far as the eye could see. It was only 12 days previously that we had paddled that coast with Mike but it seemed such a long time ago.

 Gradually we cleared Eigg and the Rum Cuillin were revealed.

 In the distance Canna could be seen to the lefdt of Rum, some 30km to the NW.

 As we crossed the Sound of Eigg we slowly began to make out the Arnamurchan lighthouse at the end of the peninsula. It was silhouetted against Mull by a fog bank which was lying in the Sound of Mull.

 To port, Ben More on Mull rose above the lower Ardnamurchan Hills.

 To starboard the complete profile of Rum could be seen as we left Eigg behind.

 As we approached the west coast of Muck, we still expected to meet a significant tide but it never materialised. To the south the MV Loch Nevis was heading for the jetty at Port Mor on the south side of Muck.

 Given the highly favourable conditions (it was winter!) we decided to leave Port Mor till later and circumnavigate Muck in an anti clockwise direction..

...but first it was time to take first luncheon in the delightful bay of Camas na Cairidh, we had arrived on Muck. The machair to the right of the beach has a permanent composting toilet and in summer a yurt is erected, which can be rented from Isle of Muck farms. The tide was still ebbing and as it fell (leaving our kayaks high and dry) it revealed an old fish trap that had been built from a stone wall between rocky outcrops. Camas na Cairidh in Gaelic means "bay of the weir".

We enjoyed a superb view of Rum from our chosen luncheon spot. After warming homemade soup and bread, washed down by some 10 year old Jura or 12 year old The Singleton (I can't remember which, maybe it was both) it was time to make our way back down the rocks. There was just time to float the kayaks over the fish trap. As we waded through the pool behind the wall it was obvious that there was not a single trapped fish. Maybe it was because it was winter, maybe the seas are empty. Fish traps like this have been used for thousands of of years and in the past the seas were full of shoals of herring.

Smoke on the water, in the Sound of Eigg.

Ian and I found our kayaks had been untouched and were as we had left them at the Galmisdale shop and community centre. Facilities at the shop include a small restaurant, toilets, showers, wifi and a water tap.

 Our gear was rather damp so we let it dry in the sun as we moved the kayaks down the jett ready for our crossing to Muck, the last of the Small Isles..

There was a sea of fog to the north east though we could see the dark hill above Mallaig and the Distant mountains of Knoydart soaring into the clear air above.

 To the south west a similar bank of fog floated above the sea beyond Eilean Chathastail. We could see the Ardnamurchan mountains but there was no sign of the great peninsula.

According to the West Coast Pilot we would meet 3 knot tides in mid channel and 4 knots off the coast of Muck. It was spring tides and we would be in mid channel 3 hours after slack. The tide was running through the gap between Eigg and Eilean Chathastail like a river so with a last look at the chart we prepared to put in some hard work with a high ferry angle.

It was good to be on our way again and low lying Muck lay on the far side of a mirror calm Sound of Eigg.

To our left the fog banks had lifted allowing us to see all the way to distant Ardnamurchan Point.

Paddling along the south coast of Eigg we were rewarded...

...by a magnificent view of the Sgurr of Eigg, which we had been denied the day before.

We soon left the last house of Galmisdale behind and came to a...

...piece of coast with a dark secret.

Beneath the Sgurr are some sea caves that were cut when the sea was higher. The big one is Cathedral cave. Nearby a smaller cave, Uamh Fhraing (also known as the Massacre Cave) saw the death of almost the entire population of the MacDonalds who inhabited Eigg. In 1577, 395 Macdonalds hid in the cave from a group of raiding McLeods from Skye.They were found and the McLeods lit a fire at the only entrance. They all died and the corpses were left in the cave to rot. As recently as 1979 a human skull was found in the cave.

In those dark days in Eigg's past, it was not banks of fog on the water but smoke.

Better days, the birth of a new community on Eigg.

When Ian and I crested the summit of the "trans Eigg highway", we came across this old play boat for local school children. It was well and truly high and dry!

The Old Shop is now a museum so the free entry sign is not out of place.

Just past the Old Shop we came to an even older standing stone on the way to...

...the school building which currently houses 10 pupils. The school boasts a HebNet dish and a recently installed biomass heating system. It burns logs grown on the island and new trees are planted to replace those cut down.

As we continued our descent we became surrounded by fog...

...which made the surroundings of this larger standing stone...

...very atmospheric.

Above the moor on which the standing stone stands the Sgurr of Eigg rises sheer.

Next we came to the lovely, well maintained Eigg Parish church.

Nearby the old manse was showing sad signs of neglect.

The mist lifted for a short while giving  some more...

...great views to the Sgurr of Eigg which is only 39m high but is one of the most...

...dramatic and distinctive blades of rock on the west coast of Scotland. It is composed of volcanic pitchstone which sits on ancient sedimentary rocks.

Descending towards Galmisdale we passed this array of solar panels which form part of Eigg's electricity grid   together with hydro power and wind power generators. The grid was opened in 2008 and now supplies all the homes with 24hr electricity. Prior to that islanders depended on noisy diesel generators.

The mist thickened as we approached the old pier at Galmisdale. An elderly steam yacht lay tied up against the jetty. Perhaps like the wooden play boat she too has seen better days.

Ian and I were nearly back at the shop and cafe, at the head of the old slipway, where we had left our kayaks. Another stone stands above the bay but this is not ancient. Eigg has recently emerged from the cloud of unsympathertic private ownership. This stone was erected  on 12th June 1997 to commemorate the purchase of Eigg by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust. Eigg is now owned by the community which lives there and this may partly explain why the island seems to be a thriving community, in stark contrast to what is happening on nearby Canna. Ian and I arrived at Galmisdale with the feeling the island of Eigg, with its ancient and recent history, is now certainly enjoying better days.

A long and winding road on Eigg.

After breakfast at Lageorna, Sue offered to run Ian and myself the 7km back to the jetty at Glamisdale where we had left our kayaks. We thanked her for her kind offer but we had already decided to walk. So we loaded our possessions into that ubiquitous luggage carrier of itinerant sea kayakers...the Frakta Ikea bag. We breathed the fresh still air deep into our lungs. It's aroma was a mix of sea and natural countryside. Closer to the crofts there was also the smell of cattle and sheep.

As we passed each croft we could not help but notice the antennae for the HebNet terrestrial wireless broadband system.

Eigg also has an older communication system. This post box dates from the reign of King George V, who reigned from 1910 until he died in 1936. Ian and I had originally thought it would have dated from the reign of George VI but the typeface of GR confirms it as the Royal Cypher of the earlier monarch. Interestingly there are no specific times of day for collection of the post. Instead, the collection is made 1 hour prior to the departure of the ferry.

Some of the crofts were in better state of repair than...

...others but all shared...

...a marvellous view of the Bay of Laig. Ian and I were so glad we had decided to walk and to savour the atmosphere of this wonderfull island.

A new hedge of willow wands had recently been planted alongside the brae that leads from Cleadale to the watershed of Eigg.

Primroses adorned the banks on either side of the road.

Behind us, the Cuillin of...

...Rum slowly receded as we made...

our way up the long and winding road that led to the watershed of Eigg and...

...a view of the Sgurr of Eigg.